


Respite In The Middle Of The Night

by Vogelimkafig120



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Blood, Death, F/M, Fluff, Heavy Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Pregnancy, Post-Time Skip, Set a Few Years After Blue Lions Route, Spoilers, slight romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-12 22:50:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20572226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vogelimkafig120/pseuds/Vogelimkafig120
Summary: Dmitri's dreams lead him to certain scenarios that involve him reliving the precursor and middle of his dark path, the experience shaking him as a result. 3H Spoilers so be wary, please!





	Respite In The Middle Of The Night

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings again! Here's another Dimitri and Marianne fic that I hope you enjoy, even if it's heavy in angst. I'm just glad to be able to finish it in time! Thank you as always! ^_^

_Dimitri’s eyes were weighing heavily on him, struggling to keep them open as he risen from the ground. His eyes were greeted at the sight of countless bodies lying down, void of life. He rushed to one of them, only to find that his father remained lifeless. Frantically, the young prince tried to shake his father, urging for him to wake up, despite the king's head severed, but to no avail. He wasn’t able to spare anytime to grieve once he heard a harrowing scream coming from a distance, a hint that someone else had survived the ambush. _

_When Dimitri knelt down to the injured person, it happened to be his friend Glenn, battered and riddled with sword-inflicted wounds. However, when the young prince attempted to make a move to tend to his friend, he was met with another painful scream. _

_“It hurts! Please, help!” Glenn cried out, the blood loss increasingly becoming worse. _

_“I-I…” Dimitri paused himself, admitting that he didn’t know what to do, powerless as a result. _

_Then, more wails were echoing the field, each of them pleading for Dimitri to rescue them, but how could one boy be able to alleviate their suffering? Maybe if he was stronger, then he would have been able to thwart the attack. He collapsed to his knees, head laid down, hands clenching the blood-stained soil, crying due to his own incompetence._

_It was only supposed to be a meeting in order to improve the relations between the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and Duscur, according to his father. But somehow along the way, scores of soldiers who happened to be affiliated with Duscur, though in Dimitri’s mind they didn’t seem to be, had ambushed them by surprised. In the end, Dimitri was the sole survivor of such a horrendous massacre, none of the victims had died peacefully, their last moments filled with pain and regret. _

_But when Dimitri raised his head up, he found himself into another scenery, though this time it was on Faerghus territory in some sort of military encampment, his eyes caught at the sight of flags from the Adrestian Empire. Perplexed, he found it to be out of place. _

_As he ventured through the encampment, he saw countless Imperial soldiers lay lifeless on the ground, each of them having received multiple stab wounds as though it came from a lance. Dimitri noted that a majority of their faces were wet with tears, entailing to him that they had pleaded for their lives up to the point of their untimely demises. Just what were they up against? It was unfathomable that one person could mow down an entire infantry themselves. Unless…_

_“Back away!” _

_Alarmed, the young prince raced towards the source of the shout, finding two other people, an Imperial troop who backed himself to a wall and someone with moppy blond hair and a long cape that cloaked his body towering in front of the unfortunate man. _

_Dimitri kept his distance away from them, observing the interaction between the two. _

_“Y-you killed my friends without even a hint of m-mercy.” the troop accused the long-caped man, the latter unhinged by his statement, smirking as a result. _

_“How is that any different from the lives that you took for the sake of Her,” the towering man hissed out, his face scorned at the vague mention of Edelgard, “I’m merely avenging the fallen from that fateful day, after all.” _

_The fallen? Fateful day? Dimitri pondered for a bit until he deduced, much to his horror, that the caped man had just so happened to be himself, but older. The young prince’s eyes widened at the revelation, wondering just how did he drift away from the right path? _

_“T-that can’t be me. Goddess, tell me this isn’t true.” the younger Dimitri whispered under his breath, silently hoping that he wouldn’t get caught. _

_“Please, I-I felt I did what was best for Her Majesty and for our land. T-there are those w-who are waiting for me to come back home. Find it somewhere in your heart to s-spare me.” the troop pleaded dearly, his heart palpitating. _

_An unfortunate choice of words on the troop’s part. The older Dimitri began to laugh maniacally, frightening his younger self as the latter watched the scene unfold. _

_“You must be jesting me, aren’t you?!” The older Dimitri bolted in humor until his face contorted back to one filled with rage and vengeance, “I’m indisputably certain that your victims have had the same thought in mind before their lives were forfeit! Believe me, you and I are no different from each other.” _

_“We are vile beasts after all, masquerading as humans. Though my goal has more of a purpose than yours.” _

_The younger Dimitri felt sick to his stomach, his legs trembling due to what his older self was spewing out. He thought that he would grow to become a fine ruler to the people of Faerghus, but his future self had told him a different tale. One who stained his hands red without any consideration for his victims, all for the sake of the dangerous delusion known as revenge. He was deeply ashamed of himself in the process. _

_“Now then,” the older Dimitri concluded, drawing out his blood-stained lance, “time for repentance.” _

_Shocked, the troop began to frantically look for an exit, but it was all in vain. His body quaked, tears drifting down his face, crying out to the prince in-exile to spare his life. _

_“No, please! I beg of you! Don’t come any closer!” the troop begged as the vengeful person’s steps were nearing him, a lance pointed at him as well. _

_Unable to bear any longer, the younger Dimitri turned his face away, closing his eyes as he heard a piercing sound followed by an ear-shattering scream in an instant. The young prince had almost wanted to vomit as a result. _

_“P-please…” the troop whispered before his eyes closed shut in the end._

_The screams ceased, and the older Dimitri tugged his lance away from the troop’s heart, shaking his head in disappointment. _

_“What a waste,” he spewed, looking at the pitch-black sky, “this won’t satiate them. Her head will, though. I just know it.”_

_Then, the older Dimitri caught his attention to his younger self, much to the former’s amusement. “Guess you saw the entire thing, huh.”_

_Finding the courage to look at his older self in the eye, the younger Dimitri saw his future self’s expression change to a tint of remorse, eye devoid of life. He wondered if his older version somehow regretted every atrocity that he had committed while following the dark path. The younger Dimitri couldn’t help but shed tears for him, finding him pitiful._

_“Funny, isn’t it?” the older Dimitri commented to his past self, clutching his lance as he shook his head in shame, a somber smile on his face, “sometimes, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain…” _

In the present world, Dimitri rose from his bed in a sitting position, shock coursing through him, body wracked with sweat, trying to catch his breath. So, it was a dream after all, he thought. Though it felt vivid and realistic to him. Despite how things had turned out for the better, the fruits of his misdeeds continued to haunt his mind for as long as he lived. 

He brought his hand to his forehead, rubbing the temple in a soothing manner until a soft and concerned voiced called to him.

“Dimitri?” Marianne spoke, bringing herself into the same position as her husband, her hand placed on his shoulder, “are you okay, my love?”

Hearing Marianne’s voice brought a sense of relief and peace for the King, calming his nerves for a bit. He felt ashamed for appearing to her at his worst moment, but it couldn’t be helped.

“I-I am not. It seems that I’m still plunged into witnessing the same scenes over and over again.” he explained, leaning his head to his wife’s shoulder blade, letting her play with his messy hair.

The Queen Consort knew for some time that her husband would have nightmares in regards to the Tragedy of Duscur and when he followed a sinful path of vengeance. It ached her to the bone that it would perpetuate on even after so many years. As what her experience had also taught her, not all wounds are fully remedied either instantly or later on in life.

“Would you like to discuss about it, love?” she offered, breathing in his scent.

“You already know about the contents of my dreams, but this time, they were conjoined into one.” Dimitri revealed, his voice beginning to shake.

“What do you mean by that, Dimitri?” the Queen Consort asked as the both of them decided to lie down on their bed together, though he continued to keep his face on her shoulder blade.

“I was viewing in the perspective of my younger self, finding myself at the field where my father and everyone else were killed senselessly, their cries of help vibrating through my ears, and then… then…” the King halted himself, his throat turning dry.

Marianne immediately pulled him into a loving hug, rubbing her hands over his back. It tore her to see Dimitri crumble, but she would never judge him because of it. It’s part of the process of being human.

“Please continue if you can, love.” she encouraged quietly, her eyes beginning to well up with tears of her own.

“Then, my dream took me to an Imperial encampment, where many of its soldiers were massacred. There was a scream, and when I went to investigate, I found an Imperial Troop along with… w-with,” Dimitri was about to give in until Marianne comforted him, giving him the confidence to press on, “my vengeful self.”

The imagery of the past meeting the future was poignant in Marianne’s mind. Dimitri’s innocence was lost on the day of the Tragedy of Duscur, obligated to honor the fallen with the blood of his foes. It accrued over time as a consequence. She stayed silent so that her husband could pour his heart out to her. After all, she would always be a supportive beam for him, just as he did for her.

“The troop was pleading for his life to be spared, but my horrid self simply howled in amusement, taunting him for his hypocrisy. My younger self couldn’t bear witness the moment the lance had impaled through the troop’s heart.” He muttered, shaking his head slightly.

He could still recall how remorseless his deranged version acted towards the soldier, the way his younger self stared in horror. Blinded by his false sense of justice, he never considered as to who he affected in his path.

“Afterwards, my young and older selves traded eyes, one with signs of fear and sympathy, and the other whose face had told the former that he was struggling to bear the weight of his sins. That moment was entirely jarring to me, but I can never forget those words before the nightmare had ceased,” Dimitri went on, swallowing his apprehension.

“Sometimes, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.”

Those words were chilling for the both of them. The Queen Consort had sometimes pondered on how Dimitri’s life could had been if no one had intervened in time. But they were in the present, and so it’d be frivolous to amuse themselves on hypothetical scenarios that would never occur at the moment. However, they were alluring to think about, to say the very least.

Suddenly, Marianne felt her shoulder wet, and upon close inspection, she saw Dimitri shedding tears of his own. “Dimitri?”

“I’m sorry for worrying you, love,” Dimitri apologized, an amused look on his face, “it’s unbecoming for a king to reveal himself as weak to his people, especially to his wife.”

Marianne simply nodded her head in a negative fashion, refusing to believe that her husband would stoop himself that low. “You are no less human for expressing emotion in the slightest, Dimitri. The amount of progress that you’ve done is impeccable, no matter how much the past continues to gnaw at you.”

“There are times where my dreams guide me to where people first started to accuse me of bringing doom to them, myself believing that I was truly culpable after all. It still hurts to this day but I’m proud of how much I’ve grown despite it all. There’s no telling what could have happened if it wasn’t for you and everyone else’s support.” she admitted, her tears spilling out as well.

To this day, Dimitri was amazed at how much knowledge and wisdom Marianne was portraying. He couldn’t be anymore proud of her for ensuring that she would press forward as well. A truly remarkable woman. “You’ve also done great since our time at the academy. This may not be much of me to express but, thank you for everything, Marianne.”

“The same goes to you, Dimitri,” Marianne agreed, a soft grin forming as she pressed a kiss on her husband’s head, “remember that if you ever find yourself overwhelmed, you’ll always have me by your side, and so does everyone else.”

“Of course, love,” he concluded, bringing one of his hands to her swollen abdomen, where their child was resting, “after all, our upcoming joy is going to be expecting loving and supporting parents.”

Marianne was in the later stages of her pregnancy, and in a few moons, she would be expecting her first child. Even during the early stages of the Queen Consort being with child, she was absolutely terrified because she under the impression that she would be a horrible mother to her child, as her own childhood wasn’t entirely pleasant. But knowing that it was _t__heir child_, and no one else’s meant they would shower them with all of the love and care that the both of them had yearned for before. Dimitri’s fear was that he wouldn’t be able to watch his child grow in the later years of his life, the thought also tormenting him at night, but he would be grateful to be in their presence for as long as he could, no matter what.

“This will sound overused, but you will make a loving father, Dimitri, truly.” Marianne promised to her husband as she let go of his head, letting him guide himself down in order to press kisses on her belly.

“Your mother is an amazing person, isn’t she?” Dimitri told to her belly, sniffling a bit afterwards, “we can’t wait to meet you. Dorte shares the same thoughts, too.”

The scene was too much for Marianne’s heart to bear, but in a pleasant way. Despite the tense atmosphere from earlier, they were able to seek themselves through it and find peace and comfort for the time being. The both of them had thought of names for their child but haven’t reached a consensus. When she heard a yawn coming from her husband, she also emitted her own as a result, signaling for them that they should go back to their slumber.

“Let us go back to sleep, love,” the Queen Consort advised tiredly, gesturing for her husband to scoot back up, “your dreams will be full of wonder this time around. Believe me.”

“They will, truly.” the King nodded, bringing himself closer to his wife’s side.

The two of them shared a kiss before they slept in each other’s arms, letting themselves back into what dreams awaited them. A particular one had transpired in Dimitri’s thoughts. It was him and Marianne, along with their child as they tended to Dorte together, each of them with content smiles on their faces. Then, their friends would pay a visit in order to spend time with their child. A dream that would soon become a reality. 


End file.
